The good brother
by snobunniex3
Summary: Just a little backstory for the McDonald twins. Lindsey deals with bullies in his own way, when that doesn't work Eliot comes to help. Same universe as my other story, the dramatic brother, but they can both stand alone. rated for language and some mild violence. nothing that isn't on either show. Please review!


AN: So this is another angel/leverage crossover. I got the idea after writing my other story, the dramtic brother, and spent a couple hours typing this out instead of doing homework. Its kind of a prequel, just some back story. I tried to combine Eliot and Lindsey's cannon backstories evenly and I think they melded pretty well. Let me know what you think of it!

Disclaimer: I do not own leverage or angel or any of the characters.

* * *

Most people hate high school. It's a simple fact, really. Throw a bunch of hormonal, immature adolescents together with the promise of freedom after serving 4 years and it's only a matter of time before something bad happens.

Lindsey sat in the corner of the library, pretending to read the list of electives in front of him, wondering how exactly he'd managed to get stuck in detention two and a half months into his first year of high school. He wasn't a bad kid, actually, most would argue he's the good kid in the family. Well besides Sara Beth but she's 7 and nobody can behave better than her. Eliot was the trouble maker. He snuck out almost every weekend since the last summer and he never studied. That's not to say he bad though, Lindsey thought. After all, if it weren't for his twin, they'd probably still be peeling him off the parking lot.

* * *

_3 weeks earlier_

Lindsey quickly switched his heavy biology textbook for his slightly heavier English textbook and turned to hurry to class. He was going to be late and it was all Eliot's fault. Well, not entirely, but definitely mostly.

He didn't get very far when an older student, D.J. if he remembered correctly, put his arm around his shoulder and started talking as if they were old friends.

"Hey McDonald, what's the rush?"

"I'm going to be late." Lindsey replied, trying to shrug the larger boy off.

"Come on Lindsey, I just wanna talk for a minute."

"Sorry, wrong twin, I'm Eliot, Linny should be in math now though."

"Nice try, I just saw Eliot walkin' towards the gym with Heather." Damn, Lindsey thought, not sure if he was more upset that the idiot hanging on his shoulder hadn't fallen for the switch (this time) or that his brother was skipping math (again).

He sighed and resigned himself to being late to class. "What do want?"

D.J. grinned. "Let's discuss this somewhere else." He replied before pulling his only just barely willing hostage into the bathroom.

There were three other guys in there and none of them seemed surprised to see the other two.

"See, Lindsey, we have a big game coming up in two weeks and we need to really well on the next bio test. We were thinking you could help us out with that."

"Sure, I can help you study. I get to school pretty earlier, we can do it before classes. If you want to do it in the evenings though it will have to be after 8." He replied, not understanding why this couldn't be discussed in the hall. Or why the other guys seemed like they were trying not to laugh.

"No, I don't think you're understandin' me McDonald. We don't want you to tutor us, we ain't got time for that. We all have football practice and work after school."

It only took Lindsey a moment and suddenly he was very annoyed with the whole situation.

"I don't cheat. Sorry. Like I said, I can help you study but I won't cheat." His voice was firm and he made to leave, already coming up with an excuse for being late.

One of the other players got in his way though (Bobby?) and blocked the door.

"No, you don't have to cheat." D.J. went on, trying to convince the smaller boy. "Just-Just write your answers big enough for one of us to see and don't cover your paper up so much. You won't be cheating, we will. If we get caught, which we never have before, you won't get in any trouble, just say you didn't know we were copying."

Lindsey looked at him for a moment, wondering why they wanted to cheat off of him they thought he was that stupid.

"No, I don't cheat. Now would you please move, I need to get to class." The last bit aimed at Bobby, or maybe it was Billy (he knew it started with a B and had a y at the end).

Bobby/Billy just shook his head, crosses his arms, and glared. "I don't think yer payin' too good attention here. See, we can't play in the game if we don't get at least a B on this exam. So your goin' to let us copy your answers, got it."

Lindsey looked at the older, bigger, stronger boy in his way and then looked at the others in the room. They were only slightly less intimidating but their faces all said the same thing. He was going to let them cheat or they were going to kick his ass.

"Fine, you can copy off my test. But I ain't guaranteeing any grades. If you fail, it ain't my fault." He said finally, not having much choice.

"See, I knew you'd see it our way." D.J. expressed happily, as if he hadn't just bullied Lindsey. "Come on Drew, let him through so he can get to class." And finally the Drew (apparently it didn't start with a B) moved away from the door.

By the time Lindsey made it to English, he was 10 minutes late and only avoided detention by apologizing and quietly asking if he could please go to the nurse. He wasn't as good as Eliot at lying but right now he did feel rather sick.

It was while he waited for the nurse to finish with another 'sick' kid that just had to go home that Lindsey came up with his plan to get back at the football players. He knew how Eliot would have handled it but he couldn't fight half as well as his brother. No, he was the brain to Eliot's brawn.

* * *

The following Monday he walked into school, prepared to ace his bio test and show D.J., Drew, and their friends why you shouldn't mess with a McDonald.

They older boys stopped him at his locker before lunch, just to make sure he remembered their deal. Lindsey smiled.

"Just make sure you turn in your exams before me. I'm going to make a few wrong and then after you turn in your exams I'm going to make different ones wrong on mine; so it's not obvious." He briefly wondered if they would kill him or just slightly maim him after they realized what he did today.

When he got his test he grinned, it was true/false and multiple choice. He filled it out, making sure to write big and not cover it too much. D.J. and one of the others (Jesse?) would be able to see it just fine. After all four of the cheating, bullying, arrogant assholes had turned in their papers, Lindsey changed _all_ of his answers. He was careful not to make it obvious, even though none of them were paying him any attention. He switched T's to F's, B to E's, D's and E's to B's. He was going to get a 100% on this test. The football players were going to get zeroes.

* * *

Sure enough, they got grades back on Friday, just in time for the big game. He could feel the glares and tried to ignore them. Tried to ignore the fact that he was probably a dead man walking and the only time he was going to see his face lookin' normal was when he looked at his twin. He tried really hard.

He made it to his locker before they confronted him. Probably wanted to make sure they were far enough away from Mrs. K, the bio teacher.

"What. The. Hell. McDonald. I thought we had a deal." D.J. growled out behind him.

"We did. You told me I didn't have choice but to let you copy my answers. I reluctantly agreed. I told you, if you fail, not my fault." He probably should have tried to sound a little sorry or at least not smug.

A fist hit the locker next to him and even he wasn't sure if his flinch was from the noise or from Drew's glare. He looked at the others around him before pointedly looking at the people who were starting to stare and the teachers debating whether they needed to come over.

"Not here Drew." D.J. finally said, catching on quicker than Lindsey thought he would.

"You're a dead man, McDonald." He hissed quietly enough that none of the nosy students would hear before grabbing Drew's arm and leading the other boys away.

He felt the glares sent his way all day and didn't talk to anyone until Eliot threw his arm around him as they started walking to their dad's hardware store.

"You ready for the bonfire tonight?" Eliot questioned, excited for his date no doubt.

"I ain't goin'."

"Whattaya mean you ain't goin'? Course you are. Remember, Heather is gonna set you up with her friend Ashely. It's gonna be great." He smiled at his brother and then shoved him sideways when he saw his frown.

"Come on man, what's buggin' ya? You've been in a funk all week and now you want to skip the bonfire?"

Lindsey considered telling his twin, they didn't keep much from each other, but he'd been considering it for almost two weeks now and it always came back to the same thing. Eliot would be pissed at the guys who'd harassed him and then start a fight. Again. Eliot had already been in 2 fights since school started two months ago, although he denied starting either one. Sometimes Lindsey wondered if his brother didn't enjoy them.

"It's nothin', I just don't feel like goin'." '_Please drop it'_

Eliot was quiet for a moment. "You suck at lying." He finally said before getting quiet, sulking.

"Fine, I'll go. I was just going to read this book but if you really want me to go, fine." Okay, so he definitely had to give up the title of smart twin now.

* * *

"Man, I don't see them anywhere, I'm going to check by the snack stand. Be right back." And suddenly Lindsey was alone. He sighed and looked around, hoping Eliot would get back quickly but doubting it.

And then Lindsey wasn't alone. Strong hands grabbed his arms and another clamped over his mouth, stopping his scream before it started. Whoever, and he had a pretty good guess at that whoever, dragged him away from the edge of the crowd and towards the parking lot.

They shoved him away and he fell against the fence. His attackers formed a half circle, blocking any escape. He stood slowly, trying to remember everything he'd learned from fighting with Eliot.

"Your gonna pay for what you did McDonald."

"You think we would realize what you did."

"How'd you think this was gonna work out, huh?"

Lindsey looked at them and tried to figure a way out, unfortunately, he opened his mouth before he made a plan.

"I told ya, it ain't my fault you failed. If you wanted to do well, you should have studied. Maybe next you'll think –oof" He doubled over, clutching his stomach. Probably shouldn't tell people like Drew to think.

"What was that!?" did he say that out loud? Shit.

Lindsey was saved from coming up with a convincing lie when an arm was thrown around his shoulder (he really wished people would quit doing that).

"Hey there Linny, I've been lookin all over for ya. I'm think we should head home, turns out Heather and Ashely didn't think we'd be coming tonight." Lindsey looked at his brother, recognizing the tone in his voice, and figured he had about 30 seconds to figure out how to get them out of here before a the fight started.

"Ya, let's head home, I'll see you guys around." He prayed they would leave, not want to deal with two McDonalds. Maybe God didn't hear, maybe he just knew who the brothers would grow up to be, or maybe he thought that this needed to happen for them to grow up to be who they were supposed to be. Either way, his prayers went unanswered.

"I don't think so. We got some unfinished business with your brother. Why don't you go back to the pep rally, he'll be over in a minute." Later, D.J. would look back and think how lucky he was that Eliot hadn't seen Drew punch his twin.

"You know, I've had a real shit night. First, my brother won't tell why he's been acting strange all week. Then he tries to ditch me for a book. Then I find out my girlfriend has another boyfriend. And now you stupid, muscle head, assholes are trying to start trouble. But I think the worst thing, for you four anyway, is that I think I finally figured out why baby bro here-"

"Twins"

"-has been lying to me. And you know, Linny, I appreciate it and all but I think I can take these losers." Eliot finished his rant with a dangerous glint to his eyes and his hands curled into fists.

Drew laughed. "You think I'm afraid of some snot nosed freshmeat. You think cause you got into a couple of fights this year you can take on four of us."

Eliot looked him up and down. "Alone, I figure I can do enough damage to ya before the four of you outmatch me. But I got Linny here so yeah, I think we can take you." Eliot chose to ignore his brother's incredulous stare in favor of his staring contest with Drew, which is how he saw the punch Drew through and dodged it before sinking his own fist into Drew's face. He felt more than heard the other teen's nose break.

That was all it took for the fight to break out. D.J. and Drew went after Lindsey while the others (who Lindsey had decided to call Big Ugly 1 and Big Ugly 2) went after the older twin.

Lindsey couldn't fight like Eliot, he didn't think anyone could, but he knew how to dodge and he got a few lucky hits in.

Eliot, on the other hand, was making quick work of Big Ugly 1 and Big Ugly 2. He sent the first one down with a kick to the back of the knees and knocked him out with a punch to the head. The second guy was a bit tougher though and D.J. decided to leave Lindsey to Drew and help his other friend. He never saw the fist that knocked the wind out of him but he did see the foot that crashed into his leg, breaking it. Big Ugly 2 was past worried, he was scared. He'd seen Eliot's last fight and he hadn't been nearly this angry then. When Eliot threw a wild punch at his head, he managed to catch it, twist, and pull. He took a small amount of pleasure in the younger boy's shout of pain. Well, he did until Eliot wrenched his arm away shoved the larger boy away, somehow managing to trip him at the same time.

When Eliot turned to see how his brother was doing, he froze for a split second. Lindsey was on the ground, curled in on himself. Drew was still kicking him. Eliot saw red. He charged the stronger teen, tackling him to the ground. He no longer felt the pain in his should or the bruises forming on his chest, face, hell everywhere. The only thing he felt was the rage at the teen beneath him for trying to hurt his brother and his fists meeting the other boy's face. And then the hand on his shoulder, pulling him away.

Eliot looked around, saw the principle and several security guards heading their way quickly, and spoke before they could get close enough to hear him.

"You ever lay a hand on my brother again and I'll kill you." His words came out in a hiss that would one day strike fear into the hearts of men much stronger and braver than the football players at his feet.

He turned to his brother and was checking him for injuries when the adults finally made it over to them.

"What the he- what happened here?!" Mr. McKinny, the principle, cried.

"These guys attacked us. We were heading home and they jumped us. We just defended ourselves." Eliot replied calmly, still checking his brother for injuries.

"Defending- Eliot, this goes past defending."

Eliot sighed, wondering why it was every time he got into a fight, it turned into something more. He was about to reply to his principal when Lindsey gasped in pain. Eliot lightened his grip on his brother's arm and tried to feel if it was broken.

"OW! Damn! Sorry Mr. McKinny." Yup definitely broken.

"I'm taking my brother to the ER." Eliot said when the principal tried to stop him from leaving.

"Not yet Eliot. We'll call your paren- your dad, and while we wait for them, we can figure what we are going to do about this."

Eliot glared. "Do about what?" His voice was low and for the second time in less than an hour Lindsey worried about his brother starting a fight.

"This is the third fight you've been in the year, Eliot. School has only been in for 2 months." Mr. McKinny looked over at the other students that were being helped by the security and other faculty.

"I'm thinking two detentions a week for a month. And a weekly meeting with the guidance counselor for at least a month." He said heavily.

"Why do I gotta meet with guidance?" dangerous tone was back and Lindsey was beginning to wonder if he was the only one who could recognize it.

"To discuss you anger problems Eliot." Came the calm, patient, and not unkind response.

"I don't have anger issues." Eliot ground out, seemingly oblivious to the contradiction between his words and tone.

Mr. McKinny sighed but was saved from this particular argument by the less violent McDonald twin.

"What about the other guys?" he questioned, no way was Eliot the only one getting punished.

"They will sit out the rest of the football season."

"What! They would have to sit out anyway because of injuries. How's that fair?!" Lindsey wouldn't admit it but hearing Eliot yell made him feel better, quiet Eliot was a dangerous Eliot.

"Sir, what my brother is trying to articulate in his own way is, why is he being punished for defending himself but they aren't being punished for attacking us." Yup, even shaken, injured, and dead tired he could argue better than Eliot.

"Because, as I said, this is the third fight in two months that he has been in. He claimed all the others were self-defense as well."

"Claimed? What so now I'm not just angry and violent, now I'm a liar too?"

"No, Eliot, I just think that perhaps you let yourself be put into these situations, you look for these fights, maybe more than you realize." He looked into the eyes of the angry young man before him and hoped he could get through to him. "Eliot, I believe that you didn't throw the first punch in any of these fights, I've seen the surveillance footage, I know you didn't. However, I believe that any fight can be avoided with the right words. Any fight can be started by the right words. You've been through a lot these past few years and I know it's been hard-"

"I ain't listenin' to this crap, come on Linny. I see dad's truck." Eliot stormed off, knowing his brother was right beside him. It took a lot to make Lindsey mad but pity was a good way. He didn't want or need anyone's pity, especially not some stupid old guy too dumb to teach.

* * *

"Eliot, I thought we talked about this." Jacob McDonald started but didn't get very far.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry. How long am I grounded this time?"

"Dad, it wasn't –"  
"Shut up Linny. We were defending ourselves Dad, they jumped us. How long am I grounded?"

Lindsey stared at his brother, wondering why he was lying, why he always got Lindsey out of trouble. At times it seemed like Eliot wanted to be in trouble.

"I'm not sure yet." He finally replied as they pulled up to the hospital. Jacob held up a hand to stop the argument he knew was coming, "Let's discuss this when we get home, okay?"

They two boys nodded and got out of the truck.

"Where's Sara Beth?" Lindsey finally asked.

"Dropped her off at Willie's on my way to the school. Miss Jamie said the fight was pretty serious, didn't want her seeing either of you bleeding too bad." Both twins stared at their feet, suddenly feeling guilty for their actions.

* * *

"Dad, I know we said we'd talk about it at home, but its drivin me nuts. How long am I grounded?" Eliot finally asked, after 20 minutes of debating. He'd gotten his shoulder popped back in place and now they were waiting in the hall while Lindsey got his x-ray and a cast.

Jacob sighed and ran a hand through his hair, wondering briefly how many grays his sons had added to it tonight. He responded slowly, the idea only half formed when he started speaking.

"One month. Sort of. You aren't grounded exactly, but I'm taking you to that gym in Riggly. You're gonna sign up for a boxing or wrestling or some kind of fighting. We need find an outlet for all that anger and beating up the football team ain't it."

He watched as his son processed this, wondering when he'd become so angry but knowing that it had been a slow build over the last few years. It didn't matter that things were getting better, that they had a home and they were all healthy. Ever since his wife and two daughters had died almost 5 years ago, Eliot had been getting angrier, his temper getting closer to the surface. It seemed like the only people capable of keeping Eliot calm these days were his siblings.

"Why does everyone keep sayin' I got anger issues?" Eliot eventually questioned.

"Who else said it?" the elder McDonald asked, genuinely curious.

"Mr. McKinny. As part of my punishment for getting into another fight, I have to visit guidance once a week for a month. And I have, like, 8 detentions."

Jacob nodded, that was actually probably a good idea, although he was sure Eliot would put up a fight.

* * *

The McDonald twins stared at the ceiling of their shared room, neither sleeping but neither quiet ready to admit it. Curiosity eventually got the better of one of them though.

"So, why were they tryin' to beat you up anyway?" Eliot asked, finally wondering why he was going to be waking up tomorrow feeling like he'd been hit by a truck.

"They wanted to cheat off me in bio."

"Geez, Linny, next time just let 'em." Eliot groaned, not letting his brother finish.

"I did, sorta. I tried saying no but they made it pretty clear what would happen if I didn't. I was gonna tell you but I figured you'd pick a fight." they both snorted at that.

"That worked out real well. So if you let 'em cheat, why'd they wanna rearrange yer face?"

"I made them fail. Unless they changed an answer, they all got zeroes."

Eliot laughed then. "God, Linny, you're evil. Anyone ever tell you that?"

Lindsey chuckled for a moment and then they returned to their silence for a little while longer.

"So how long you grounded for?"

"Not grounded, gotta go to a gym two or three times a week to, how'd he put it 'find an outlet for all that anger'. Might actually be fun. At the very least I'll be able to fight better."

Lindsey rolled his eyes at the smirk he didn't need to see to know was on his brother's face.

"So, how'd you find me so quick anyway? I figured you would have kept looking for Hannah and what's-her-name."

"Hannah? Dude, her name's Heather. How the hell are you so bad with names?" Eliot laughed for good minute before quieting down enough to answer his brother's question.

"I found her and Ashley over at the snack table. They were with David and Ryan." The laughter was gone and Lindsey felt bad for asking, knowing his brother had cared about the girl.

"Sorry, man."

"It's cool, she wasn't that great anyway. I was gonna dump her soon." Lindsey pretended to believe him.

"You know, I think Aimee likes you." He wasn't even lying, well not exactly.

"Aimee- Aimee or some other girl whose name you don't know" Eliot could see the eye roll.

"Aimee-Aimee. Girl next door Aimee. Blonde with and attitude bigger than yours Aimee."

"Hey, nobody's got a bigger attitude than me."

"Or worse grammar."

"Ya, well you can make me a grammar study guide while you're in detention for the next month."

"I ain't-"

"Am not"

"Elli-"

"Linny."

"…night."

"g'night."

* * *

_Present_

Maybe Lindsey wasn't the good brother, maybe he was just a different kind of bad. Eliot fought but he never started the fights. Lindsey started them. He's the one that Ron had tried to shove in a locker. He's the one who thought it would be good idea to tell a senior what _exactly_ he could do with the seat he'd tried to kick Lindsey out of. Lindsey was good at starting fights. Good at arguing. He'd convinced a pissed off junior that he had bumped into Eliot and should just move along. The guy had even apologized. It was when the punches started flying that he was in trouble. He sighed and looked at all the electives he could take. There were about 20 and right now he didn't really care which he took next semester.

He put a check next to Law 1 and stuffed the paper into a folder. If he didn't like it, he could always switch with Eliot.

* * *

Please review! Pretty please with sugar on top!


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